gas 44

"Even those who never new the occupation"

I have been going to Normandy for on/off 40 years, I even remember seeing the line of sunken ships forming the first breakwater.

I still dont understand the French...love them or loath them they are just.........French

Some love us some dont, Ive had running's with a few (non M/V related) I've also had some laughs with a few.

Yes, I was on the beach with the GMC,s in fact I organised it...and I like to think my GMC was pretty authentic down to its 6 Volt system that ran a treat for 975 miles of my 2 weeks in Normandy including getting there...if you took a pic you will see it exactly in the middle marked up in 30 th Div. marking,s... I spent the months before Normandy trying to get it correct in every detail

 

I just think that a period vehicle should be just that...yes you can go on and on improving them. but .part of the essence of owning a period vehicle is acquiring the skills to drive them...and maintain them in the field.and to live with their shortcoming,s...the classic car world is awash with period cars converted to 5 speed gearboxes, alternators , geared starter motors..carbs replaced by fuel injection etc...I am sure if someone offered a full synchromesh gearbox conversion for a GMC CCKW they would be snapped up....but where would the fun be in that ???

I'm not having a go at you, on more than one account I agree with you but the OP on this thread was trying to be helpful and to be honest I think your comment re the battery was, shall we say a little rude.

There was one problem in our area with a Gendarme. He decided tha A Jeep could not go down onto the beach. After the intervention of the local Mayor, the problem disappeared! :-D

We did have one similar sutuation, although 30 odd Gmc's sorted that one at Omaha. It was let them on the beach or close the road .

I have read the threads with interest...I have owned a Slat Grille for 20 years covering 18,000 miles all over the place Normandy, Holland , Ardennes etc...having totally rebuilt it in 1994...

 

as been mentioned its bit of a can of worms...for my money if a 6V jeep won,t start ( not withstanding a hot day/ hot restart after standing ) its because there is basically something wrong with it....in terms of compression...carb and ign settings..and a 12 volt system just overcomes the fault..

 

When I see a nice Jeep..as I did in Normandy this year ...there were plenty...maybe a 1000 ??....the whole spell is broken when you hear it start on 12 volts....it does not sound right....part of owning a classic vehicle military or otherwise is its Audible soundprint. as well as its looks...its a bit like a diesel conversion on a Petrol WW2 vehicle....

 

The Jeep in question becomes less of a WW2 Jeep.....

 

however if you are going to convert it to 12 volts please fit a classic 12 volt battery with separate cells..that looks a lot more in period than a modern Car one...at least take the sticker of it...!!!. these are readily available from the normal sources

 

Now that is is !2volt you could continue the process and fit an electric fan saving petrol and giving you more power , not to mention a CD player...

Mmm hard one this, go back a few of your posts. Remember the Gmc gathering on the 05/06/14,we where there. Not sure if you were . Its not very often that 30 odd Gmc's get together but I had a good look around the one's that bothered to turn up and I'm not sure that ANY were of original spec. There was one running DUKW wheels and tyres,another had been gassed and the burble of a diesel motor. Very few were as they left the factory, ours at some stage has been 12v converted but all of this does not detract from the fact they made it to Normandy some 70 years on. I'm sure a lot of people have their little secrets under the hood or seat or just covered by a tarp. Really it matters not, the vehicles are on the road and the owners derive pleasure from that.

Anyway my best 12volt addition would be satnav, mobile dvd player oh and yes my mobile phone charger.....

hi , well done to all military vehicle owners who visited in normandy with vehicle passes, but what a waste of time, living here just behind omaha beach all residents and farmers had to have vehicle passes issued by the local marie,but hundreds of vehicle owners were driving around with no passes showing on their windscreens and no intervention by multitudes of gendarmes, we had people staying at our house with jeeps and with prior warning about passes arrived with nothing saying we will take a chance. it makes a nonsense for all the owners who took the trouble to obtain a pass, all the best tony g.

It was always going to be a farce, for heavens sake its France.....we had three vehicles over there,none had passes and nor did we,no problem moving about at all. Just dont try and go where the VIP's are.

Not heard anything from our leader on his trip though....Come on Jack give us a report.

The problem with those neon test gadgets is that they only tell you HT is getting to the lead. If it flashes it is taken to mean that a spark is being produced.

 

But this is not necessarily so because if you have a cracked insulator the HT can be leaking to earth. Thereby completing a circuit to light the neon without there being any spark.

 

It would also flash misleadingly if the insulator was sooted you could get spurious sparking across this without a proper spark at the gap yet the neon would be flashing away making you believe that the sparking plug was performing correctly.

I think Tony meant that it shows HT from the distibutor, they are just a quick (and fairly good test for that) I'm not sure anyone has good enough eyes to see what goes on inside the head.....have they

Good evening, some time ago I saw a picture of what I think was a Ben Hur trailer fitted out with telecons. I cant remember if I saw it here,another forum or infact just dream't it........:-(

Ive try tried searching but I'm crap at that as well,any help would be really good.

Thanks

Gary

Yes, it was a great afternoon. It turns out it was the 75th anniversary of the school opening, hence the 40's theme.

 

Today, I wanted the trailer out of the garage, so needed to get the Ford out first. It started ok, and I backed out of the garage, and left it to idle while I pulled the trailer out. By the time it was out, the Jeep died and wouldn't restart. After a bit of checking for sparks, pump etc, it turned out the tank was pretty much empty :red: Enough fuel to leave the pump bowl full, but not enough suck to push it through and up the pipe to the carb!

 

I put half a jerry can in, and it was fine after that! So it looks like I just had enough to get home yesterday, and for about two or three minutes running after that!

Fuel gauge not working.........:laugh: :laugh:

Engine compartment splash guard. The line of bolts fit to the chassis, curved bit clears the down pipe I think.

 

Gordon

I would say that is correct as I have romoved mine in the last couple of days, the piece of heavier angled metal ,I think is a crued bump stop......

I think your situation is very similar to tens of thousands unable to visit a grave.... good idea re the box though.

Many thanks. Interesting that the British Legion link says no and the second link suggests its OK!

Just my veiw I know and not knocking anyone, but if I aint won them I aint wearing them.

Much bigger.

I agree, much much bigger BUT, and this is only my personal veiw. This time it seemed less about the Vets and more about the perceved VIP's.

I did not think that things could get any lower,when in 2009 about 25 or so Vets where kept waiting for about an hour at attention just for Gordon Brown to rush past them to into the museum and out of the rain.

Great trip though, replaced water pump on the Gmc...thanks to Wildenberg and Mr Britool......

All vehicles home safe and sound,nice to meet you again Rosie and Richard even if you did forget my name

Yes , it seems like us 3 Brits to date...I have contacted Rob van Meel, purveyer of "Groucho" technical reprints in Holland to pass it on to Dutch and Belgian MVT GMC owners... but I will print some flyers to hand out in France from the 1st Onwards. Rex Ward will inform any GMC owners at the MVT camp at Etreham..as they arrive..

 

Seems the Dodge owners are getting together at Point du Huc on the 4th,,,

 

I am taking my Manifold off this afternoon as there is a blow between the inlet and exh. bit and has been for a few months . but will only get worse...I am also taking my Gas tank off to change the gauge float which seems to be made of carbon /coal/ plastic which seems to leave debris in the tank which blocks the fuel line every 200 miles !!!..

 

Ed Abbott

Do you have the contact details of the "Keep Them Rolling" group from Holland, they have some mighty fine trucks.

As I recall they often stay at a camp site in Couselles Sur Mer (right on Juno beach).

So just the three of us then.......are you in contact with any of the "French/Dutch....etc". I think they will have the most GMC's over there.

We would be up for that. (353)

Yes, that's my local! The truck hasn't been out so far this year but I'm busy prepping it to take to Normandy at the end of the month.

Snap, but the blooming "to do" list just gets longer.....

we should be able to start a " compulsory purchase" scheme for things like this, twenty plus years ago i enquired about a nice frogeye sprite that was sitting on someone's drive going green with mould, i was polite and merely asked if it was for sale for restoration, the owner threw a fit and told me to leave, i watched that lovely car turn to dust over the years until eventually it was shovelled up and taken for scrap, well what was left of it was. :-( why do people do it ? :banghead:

Greed

We had 11 750/20 off John Gray about 4 years ago....good then, good now.

We also had a couple of 900/16 (not fitted yet) and if I needed any more tyres I would always try him first.

He is well into the mil vehicle scene and by and large knows what people want.

John is a nice easy guy to deal with. (BTW I have no connection with John)

Gary

so ..some nylon 'para' cord....a small single wheel pulley... something like would be used on a clothes line and a 'safety' type snap hook ..? ..

all available from any farmers / countryside type store I would have thought??... and almost certainly significantly cheaper than anyone will charge you for a so called 'genuine 'US Army Jeep' one?

 

the other thing is thisthough.....I do love the 'used and abused on the battlefield' look over the 'pristine / immaculate just been nut and bolt refurbished to a mega higher standard that it was ever built in the first place' look ..........so.....surely in the field the aerial would have been lashed down out the way with whatever came to hand? ..

in that case....a suitable bit of baler twine or fence wire would do wouldn't it?.

..mind you , dependent of course on the unit markings on your particular vehicle and hence where it may have been used?....it might have to genuine French or Italian baler twine .... haha

I agree with the "used and abused" look because thats how they would have been. I also dont like "rivet" counters BUT there is no harm in trying to get the right part to start with. These parts are NOT that exspensive we picked one up from ebay for a little more than a tenner.

They would not have had the modern type "paracord". Dont get me wrong I'm not against "make do and mend" but that should not be a excuse not to try and get the right thing....after all were not all jeeps 101/82nd and fitted with radial tires..........

We also spray but if its just a small "touch up" we will use the brush.

Which now means you will be competing with the Duxford military show which is on the Sunday15th and only 55 miles away a very well established and supported event both by MV's and spectators, probably both shows may suffer lower WW2 entries as anyone going to Normandy for 7-10 days probably won't want to go out again immediately the next w/e they are back home

That was my point exactly.

Not that it will make too much difference to the show as such, but i know of at least 8 people will not be attending due to Normandy. I must say I am suprised the amount of shows that are on at that time, considering the importance this year of Normandy (of course that does not float every one's boat and its good to have a wide range of interest)

I have also spoken to a number of people that say they would rather "Do Duxford" because of the interest to them, its a tough one. I'm sure it will all work out though.........well maybe.:laugh:

Welcome back Howard.

I think a lot of the price comes down to who was selling it..... Ive been to a number of Bonhams sales and when you see some of the "Punter's" oppps sorry buyers, I'm supprised it did not go for more than that.

Depending on when you plan to travel out and back it will be a case of what ferry to Normandy you can find with space for a GMC still available in May/June, when I booked up back in August some routes were almost fully booked then, I couldn't get the return sailing I wanted Caen to Portsmouth so having to stay a few more days. the MVT and IMPS have block booked the Portsmouth/Le Havre route.

Its nearly a 300mile to drive from Calais to Normandy so not really feasable to go that route

Depends what part of Normandy you are planning to stay. For us Calais to our camp is 216 miles and thats fairly central to the "action" we have changed our plans and are now transporting our vehicles on modern vehicles (long story).

This means we could well have a booking with Brittany Ferries that MAY be available. We had Booked 1x GMC with 6 metre trailer 2x overnight cabins and 4 people at a cost of just about £900, to date I have paid £25 deposit. Of course the trailer could could be dropped as could two people and 1 cabin. I will not know until early Jan our final plans (family issues) but if anyone is interested pm me and we can talk.

Gary

Cheers guys. I'm going to re-set the valve gaps before I go for another run, so may have to get the other Jeep out of the garage and shut the door with the heater on to do the job. Cold fingers and spanners aren't a good mix!

 

There's far too many 101st and 82nd AB Jeeps on the planet. Perhaps we need to patrol the shows with a tin of olive drab and a paint roller! I don't understand why more people can't be original with markings. It's not like there's a shortage of stories and history out there to choose from.

Shame on you Steve, I'm sure we all know the 101 AB won the war...........well at least Damian Lewis did. lol.